1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to fishing methods, specifically to use of a barbless terminal tackle fishing loop for engaging bait and fish and the fishing loop's interoperability with other compatible fishing tackle devices.
2. Prior Art
Fishing involves the activity of capturing fish for consumption as food, for sport, or both. A traditional method of fishing involves a hook to engage the fish, line attached to the hook on one end and attached to a pole or reel on the other end. When a fish is engaged with the hook the angler retrieves the hooked fish by raising the end of the pole attached to the line or cranking line onto the spool of a reel generally through eye openings attached to a fishing rod. When the hooked fish is close to the angler it is lifted from the water and removed from the hook to be stored for food or released back into the water.
To be effective the hook needs a sharp point to penetrate fish and a mechanism to prevent the fish from slipping off easily. Typically a barb is extended backward from the point of the hook and outward from the hook material to prevent premature release of the hooked fish. While barbed hooks thus constructed are somewhat effective for retaining fish there are several problems associated with their use. Removal of a barbed hook from a fish usually involves tearing fish flesh as the hook is extracted. Barbed hooks also pose a threat to anglers or other persons if one is accidentally pierced by a barbed hook. To remove an embedded barbed hook it must be either torn out of flesh (a painful experience); pushed through flesh until the barbed portion is exposed so the barbed portion can be clipped off and the hook slid out; or it can be surgically removed by cutting flesh sufficiently to extract the barb through the surgical opening. Other aggravations associated with barbed hooks include snagging of clothing, landing nets and other objects. Barbs snagged in objects are difficult to remove, consume time, and frequently cause damage to property.
Despite these and other objectionable results of use of barbed hooks, the barbed hook remains the staple terminal tackle for sports and commercial anglers because no viable alternative is currently on the market and available to anglers. The current invention was developed to fill that market void and make available to anglers a device and method of use of that device which will eliminate, minimize or ameliorate the ill effects of use of barbed hooks noted above. Various inventors and innovators have devised ways to relieve the inconvenience and disadvantages of use of barbed hooks. Some of those include making hooks with plain (barbless) points or altering hooks by filing off the barb or pinching the barb down against the hook material. These efforts eliminate or minimize the ill effects of barbs but render the hook ineffective as it lacks a mechanism for holding fish.
A number of other devices and ways to engage fish have been proposed. Many of these have appendages that cover, overlap or contact the hook at or around the point. Most with appendages are intended to deflect vegetation (weedless) and involve a barb as the fish holding mechanism. These are excluded as prior art since one object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of barbs on hooks. Others with appendages are intended to shield persons from accidental piercing. Most such devices either have barbs or no fish holding capacity and have been excluded as prior art. Still other apparatus have been proposed with appendages that are complicated devices with various assembly components that are cumbersome and expensive to produce which probably accounts for an absence of such devices in the market place.
One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,373 to Brief (1986) in which an appendage is formed of smaller diameter wire than the hook portion with the smaller wire wrapped around the hook shank or secured to the hook shank with a metal tab. The device is similar in intended function to the fishing loop of the present invention. However, it fails to provide a simple one-piece unitary construction, a lever eye to help hold fish, a continuously bent looping design, and would not be compatible with other items included in the fishing loop method of fishing. It could also malfunction if hook setting action or fish playing pressure caused the appendage to dislodge from the hook portion of the small wire allowing the mechanism to spring open prematurely.
Other devices have included spring arms like one embodiment of U.S. Pat. No. 2,996,828 to Williams (1961). The spring arm in this case is welded to a hook shank and the arm in its relaxed position has a sheath that covers the point such that it will tend to deflect objects or fish prior to contact with the point. That device can be expected to be expensive and time-consuming to produce as well as being less effective than the fishing loop at piercing the intended catch due to the deflecting effect of the point-covering sheath.
Some prior art exposes the concept of a spring opening hooking device with an arm that opens to engage fish and closes to hold the fish. Most, such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,710,481 to Matthes (1955) and U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,827 to Schwarzer (1958) involve complex assemblies. The Matthes device uses both a forward opening and closing mechanism and a side opening mechanism that rely on a slip ring to hold portions of the hook and arm together. The Schwarzer device has a separate wire component from the hook component that involves several wraps in two directions to produce the spring effect for opening and closing the device. Both would be heavy, cumbersome and expensive to produce which probably accounts for their absence in the marketplace. The fishing loop of the current invention is practical, economical to produce, and proven to be effective. Since the other components of the fishing loop method of fishing are specifically formed to interact with the fishing loop, use of any other apparatus would not be compatible or appropriate for the current invention.
An additional prior art item was the Barbless Spring-Closure Fish Hook Device, the preferred embodiment of the present inventor's patent application Ser. No. 10/679,651 filed 7 Oct. 2003 and referred to in the Cross Reference to Related Applications; now abandoned. That device has a similar purpose as the fishing loop device of the present application but lacks several features and some functionality of the fishing loop and would not be compatible or interoperable with the other components of the fishing loop method of fishing. The flattened part of the spring arm of that device that facilitates the spring function is clearly different from the opening and closing mechanisms of the fishing loop. That device also lacks a lever eye for aiding retention of fish. Additionally it relies on a traditional J shape with a straight shank rather than the continuously bending loop of the fishing loop which simplifies shaping from a strand of wire cut from a wire coil. And the referenced device does not provide for or anticipate the in-water release feature of the fishing loop device component of the present invention.
Fishing is a sport engaged in by millions of people and its popularity and participation continue to grow. Recent developments in fishing equipment and fish attractants have helped increase the likelihood that anglers will catch more of the available fish than in the past. An undesirable consequence of this success is depletion of fish stocks in fisheries. Numerous actions have been instituted to address depletion of fish including regulatory restrictions on the size and quantity of fish allowed to be kept, length of fishing season, areas where fishing is disallowed, etc. for many of the more popular fish species. These actions have helped minimize depletion and in some case helped restore some fish species.
Besides regulation, conservation and sports minded individuals and groups have contributed to the effort through publicity of fish mortality reduction activities such as catch and release encouragement and use of less lethal methods of catching fish. One contributor to less mortality and minimizing injury to fish is use of barbless hooks to replace barbed hooks. Barbed hook removal from fish has long been recognized as a major contributor to injury and mortality to fish released back into the water. Some regulators even ban use of barbs on hooks used in certain locations and for some species of fish.
Although hooks without barbs or with the barb removed can engage fish as well or better than their barbed counterparts, their absence of a fish retaining mechanism renders them significantly less effective at catching fish. A fish can easily slip off the non-barbed device unless constant and unrelenting pressure remains exerted on the engaged fish until landed; a daunting task since a fighting fish can change direction quickly, leap and shake violently, and thrash about in the water. Thus a barbless fish engaging device capable of holding the fish is desired to meet conservation and reduced mortality objectives as well as provide anglers with a reasonable likelihood of success at catching fish.
Prior art has also produced products that stress safety features to reduce the likelihood of accidental piercing and imbedding of hooks in human flesh. Most such features also deflect objects encountered by the devices including fish. U.S. Pat. No. 2,996,828 to Williams (1961) has several embodiments with the purpose of providing that protection. Such devices have a noble purpose of protecting people but sacrifice utility with regard to the devices' primary intended purpose of engaging fish. The fishing loop of the present invention addresses the safety issue by reducing the possibility of severe injury to humans while providing an effective means of engaging and holding fish.